State Minister for Youth and Sports Biren Sikder on Wednesday said his ministry is working to formulate a time-befitting sports policy.
“The ministry has formed a committee to formulate an updated sports policy incorporating some modifications to the previous one. About 80 percent work of the policy formulation has already been completed,” he said.
The junior minister was exchanging views with the sports editors and sports in-charges of local print and electronic media at the NSC conference room in the afternoon.
Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports Arif Khan Joy, Youth and Sports Secretary Nur Mohammad and NSC Secretary Shibnath Roy were, among others, present on the occasion.
Biren Sikder also said opinions of the journalists will be sought once the draft of the new policy is ready.
He thanked the media persons for attending his first-ever meeting with the sport journalists.
Observing that sports play an important role in creating a good image of the country abroad, he expects constructive criticism from journalists for the development of the sports sector. “We like to achieve the maximum utilising our limited resources.”
The state minister also said they have decided to give two sports awards annually — National Sports Award and NSC Sports Award. “The National Sports Award will be given for performances at international level while the NSC Award for performances at national level.”
Arif Khan Joy who was a famed footballer gave a brief description of their activities in the last eight months, saying: “We’ve decided to construct stadiums and sports infrastructures in all the 480 upazilas across the country.”
He also said they have allocated a budget of Tk 1 crore for the Talent Hunt Programme.
While exchanging views, the senior sports journalists put emphasis on talent hunt programme, patronising famed and promising sportsmen and developing the infrastructure facilities for the sportsmen.
